Freedom Is In the Eye Of the Beholder
by StillLife
Summary: Jack and Elizabeth, what you didn't see. Revised a bit, and under a new pen name. Thanks to all who reviewed the first time it was posted!
1. Meetings

Freedom Is In the Eye Of the Beholder --by StillLife  
  
Jack/Elizabeth  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Pirates of the Caribbean, but I check the classifieds every single day for Johnny Depp. Heheh.  
  
Author's Notes: This is going to be a strict romance of the happiest sort. Jack and Elizabeth's relationship throughout the movie, starting with Jack's capture in Port Royal. The first few chapters are nothing but a recap of the movie, but I felt it necessary to define Jack a bit further before writing on my own. Things will be a bit different, but it's all just leading up to my own story, so bear with me, you PotC perfectos. LoL.  
  
Chapter One - Meetings  
  
Jack Sparrow was not a happy man. Things had not been going his way for several months now, and his good humour was just beginning to wear thin. First, he had lost his ship to Toredo worms, a common occurance in the warm waters of the Caribbean. The things thrived in the temperate climate, multiplying at an alarming rate during the more arid months of July and eating away at the ships' timbers. Jack's boat had, in the end, quite simply rotted away beneath his feet, the tunnel-laden wood holding its weight in water.  
  
Despite that, he had still managed to reach Port Royal in relatively good spirits. He still had his hat, and that was good enough for him. In fact, a bit of investigation had revealed a perfectly good ship nearby just *begging* to be borrowed. He went over to inspect the thing, his spirits rising with each step.  
  
Giving those two dimwitted excuses for guards the slip had been easy enough, and before he knew it he was on the deck of the Interceptor, fastest ship in the Caribbean. His day was already looking up.  
  
And then that girl had ruined everything. Falling right out of the sky from who knows where, she had miraculously missed the rocks and sank like a stone to the bottom of the ocean where, Jack presumed, she would be making busy drowning.  
  
"Are you going to be saving her, then," he'd asked the bewildered guards.  
  
"I can't swim!"  
  
Turn to the other gentleman expectantly. No help there.  
  
"Pearls of her majesty's finest, you are. Do *not* lose these."  
  
His effects were quickly dispensed into the shaking hands of the Royal Guards and he dove into the warm waters of the Caribbean.  
  
She'd sunk straight to the bottom, her heavy dress acting like a lead weight. Jack quickly realized this and unceremoniously ripped the offending garment from her limp body. Together they'd bobbed to the surface, only one of them gasping for breath. He hauled her up on the dock and checked over her still body.  
  
"Not breathing...!"  
  
Jack pulled out a wicked-looking knife and reached into the girl's petticoats, slitting the corset that held her lungs prisoner. It had fallen away into his hands and she'd begun gasping greedily for breath. Jack sat back onto his heels with a small sigh of relief just as the commodore arrived, flanked by a dozen of Her Majesty's finest.  
  
Jack should have realized the commodore would suspect him of piracy, but he was taken quite by surprise when the man had pulled his sleeve back, revealing the carvings and tattoos in his arm. The sparrow flying over the horizon had been a tipoff, as had his name in that beautifully curling script just below it, but the real clincher had been the "P" etched deeply into his forearm.  
  
"Had a little run-in with the East India Trading Company?"  
  
Jack only grinned back at him as his fingers ran over the puckered scar tissue. He'd almost got away with that one, too, he remembered. A small chuckle escaped him.  
  
"I'm glad you find the humour in this situation, Mr. Sparrow. However, I assure you things will be put in their right perspective from the gallows."  
  
This hadn't put Jack off in the slightest, even when they'd placed the cold steel chains over his wrists. He always had a way out of things, and this was no exception. The girl, Elizabeth, had pleaded for his life, but it was useless. He was a pirate, and that was the end of it. Fortunately, Jack didn't need her help to get himself out of this one. ....Then again....  
  
She'd worked perfectly as a bargaining chip. Even had the decency to put his effects back in their various rightful places, albeit a tad more rough around his goods than he would have preferred. He didn't mind; she was a beautiful thing.  
  
"I want you all t' be remembrin' this as the day ye almost captured Jack Sparrow," he'd said in that mischievious air of his, and then he was off.  
  
Pretty damn near escaped too, if it hadn't been for that hornswagglin' blacksmith. His apprentice had been doing pretty well at besting him with his sword; they'd been going at it for quite some time when the man had come up behind him and smashed his brains out his ears with that rum bottle. Dirty blighter...  
  
And now here he was, sharing a cell with naught but his own thoughts and a pot to piss in. Letting out an insufferable sigh, he turned towards the cell door.  
  
"Gents," he began, shifting his weight onto one hip, resulting in a somewhat surreptitious appearance. "I was wondrin' if ye might be sparin' ol' Cap'n Jack sommat to drink, ay?"  
  
The soldiers ignored him, just like they had the last time he'd asked. He sent a scowl in their general direction.  
  
"Bloody brigands, not even the polities to quench a man's thirst, is that it? Fine."  
  
He flopped down into the crackly straw with a thump, limbs splayed out in all directions. He had to think of something to do before he went mad with boredom....  
  
The mates in the cell next to him were naught but local felons, their mean little eyes constantly on the lookout for an escape. He didn't even bother talking to them, his spirits sinking with each passing second. Of course, the man would never let it show. He'd sooner hang the jib over something serious; this was merely a discomfort. He would escape, sooner or later.  
  
As it was, things seemed to be leaning towards later. The Black Pearl had attacked that night, creating general mayhem and destruction. From his vantage point he could see what went on fairly well despite the darkness. It appeared as though the entire town was aflame, people running and shouting like mad. Dying too, it seemed. How depressing. He suddenly wanted out of this place with a passion.  
  
A cannonball had come blasting through the wall of the prison, sending chunks of stone and mortar in all directions. After the dust had settled Jack had percieved a gaping hole in the wall of the next cell, from which his 'mates' had promptly exited. If the thing had come just a bit farther in his direction... But he was left with a crack just barely too small for his head to fit through. Of all the rotten luck...  
  
Fortunately he had proven a desireable asset to Mister Turner, and after an impressive show of ingenuity on his part they were off. Jack was instantly in command again, heading towards the port with a determined air.  
  
There it was, the Interceptor. Sitting back on his heels, Jack thought for a second. Bootstrap's son this lad may be, he still needed to know this was not going to be a stroll through the park.  
  
"How far would you go for this lass?"  
  
"I would die for her," he'd said quickly.  
  
Too rash, this boy. That would prove a problem later on. Nonetheless, Jack was going to need him in the long run.  
  
"Oh good," he'd replied.  
  
Stealing the ship had been ridiculously easy, however Jack had expected nothing but. After all, this *was* the Royal Guard. Before long they were maneuvering the vessel out to sea, a smile gracing Jack's lips. Things were working out perfectly.  
  
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	2. Desires and Bargains

Freedom Is In the Eye of the Beholder  
  
Disclaimer: I still don't own any part of Pirates of the Caribbean. Promise.  
  
Author's Notes: For the sake of getting to the story, I am going to skip the Tortuga bit. We all know what happened, so let's just say they've got their crew and leave it at that. Quotes will be WILDLY inaccurate, but I don't happen to have a copy of the movie for notes so poo to anyone who wants to complain. :)  
  
Chapter Two - Desires and Bargains  
  
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me..."  
  
Will sighed. Jack had insisted on singing that loathsome song for going on four hours now, and the crew was beginning to grumble. Will sent an apologetic glance in their direction from where he stood on the bow of the ship.  
  
He attempted to get the pirate's attention, shouting to be heard over the raucous din.  
  
"Jack!"  
  
The bead-bedecked captain swung his head around towards Will, hair flying out in an arc. His inquisitive gaze fell on the boy, studying him for a moment. Will knew he was seeing his father Bootstrap Bill when he looked at him; the sadness in his eyes gave that away.  
  
"Jack," he repeated. "Where are we?"  
  
The pirate had been consulting his compass since they'd left Tortuga, yet from what Will could discern the thing didn't point north. Jack gave him a demeaning look.  
  
"We're near there, young Mister Turner. If ye don't mind me askin', what, pray tell, do you plan on doin' once we arrive?"  
  
Will stared at him.  
  
"Well... I will rescue Miss Swann, of course."  
  
Even Will didn't look too convinced by this. They had both seen the destructive capabilities of the Pearl's crew, and neither man fancied a go at them. Jack leaned against the giant wheel of the ship, a thoughtful look crossing his face.  
  
"Mayhap we'd be best off with a plan," he affirmed. Will nodded in agreement.  
  
******  
  
They reached the cave at nightfall, the moon rising over a pale horizon. All was silent save for the quiet lapping of waves against the rocks.  
  
"Let's go, then."  
  
Lowering the longboat into the water took little difficulty, but once the two of them were on their way they had to take great care to not make a sound. They rowed without speaking, yet both of them were thinking furiously.  
  
Reaching shore, Jack jumped out and tethered the boat to a rock nearby. Together they made their way towards the cave's entrance and the illuminating glow that emanated from inside.  
  
Elizabeth was there, all right. She looked more annoyed than distressed, yet Jack's heart went out to her.  
  
'Poor lass,' he thought. 'Must be horrible bein' mixed up in this. Those blighters are too stupid to realize that they've got the wrong blood on their hands.'  
  
Jack reached out an arm without taking his eyes from the girl, stopping Will from rushing out into the middle of things.  
  
"Will, do me a favor," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Stay here, and please *try* not to do anything stupid."  
  
Will shrugged his arm off but nodded, walking over to stand behind the wildly gesturing pirate.  
  
"Remember the plan. You sneak up near the lass and sit tight while I cause a distraction, and together we-"  
  
A crack resounded through the air, and Jack dropped like a rag doll to the stone floor.  
  
"Sorry Jack, but I can't stand around and wait for Elizabeth to be killed."  
  
Will set the oar down beside the fallen pirate and snuck off into the darkness.  
  
Moments later Jack sat up slowly, a loud groan escaping him.  
  
'Bloody idiot,' he thought angrily to himself. 'He's going to get himself killed. Not that I'd object, really.'  
  
Rubbing the already rising bump on the back of his head, Jack stood shakily and made his way over to where the Pearl's crew was gathered.  
  
"S'cuse me... pardon me, that's it. Coming through."  
  
Jack made his way to the front of the room quickly before the Pearl's crew recognized their old captain and decided to finish what they'd started. Barbossa was in the middle of a rousing speech, his voice bouncing off the cave walls eerily. Jack looked up at him, a desire for revenge making its way to the surface.  
  
'Not now, Jack. He'll get what's comin' to him soon enough.'  
  
Barbossa had as of yet failed to notice the figure standing at the head of the crew, his eyes roaming upwards as he imagined a life without curses, a life where things would be infinitely better. Finishing up, he reached over to Elizabeth, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and shoving her downwards towards the gold. It reflected back on her face, the fear imminent in those brown eyes.  
  
Jack knew she was in no real danger; Barbossa wouldn't take the girl's life unless he had to. The dirty mutineer probably had better plans for her after the curse was lifted, plans that would test out his newly awakened senses. Jack shuddered.  
  
'Not while I'm around, he won't.'  
  
Barbossa grabbed the terrified girl's hand, forcing her hand upwards. She didn't even try to resist, knowing it was futile to try and escape. The knife came out of nowhere, slashing across her upturned palm violently. The blood flowed with abandon, coating the gold pressed into her hand. Grabbing her hand once again, Barbossa shook the coins free from her grip. They landed on the pile with a metallic 'clink,' the room having gone silent.  
  
Elizabeth looked up at the solemn pirate.  
  
"...That's it?"  
  
Jack stood unnoticed, the crew in anticipation of their freedom from the curse. After a few moments one spoke up.  
  
"...Is we free of it?"  
  
They all looked down at themselves, inspecting the torn clothes and grime- encrusted skin.  
  
"I don't feel any different..."  
  
Barbossa heaved a long-suffering sigh, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at the nearest pirate. A shot rang out, silencing the crew. The unfortunate freebooter stood in the same place, wearing an expression of surprise.  
  
"He's still alive!"  
  
The pirate looked to Barbossa in anger.  
  
"You shot me!"  
  
Barbossa glared at Elizabeth.  
  
"Are you the son of Bootstrap Bill Turner?"  
  
She glared back at him defiantly.  
  
In a rage, Barbossa flung her down towards the water, throwing the coin after her. By now the crew had begun arguing amongst themselves, the finger of blame being pointed in all directions.  
  
"You brought us the wrong person!"  
  
Jack rolled his eyes. At this rate, they'd be here all day. Walking over to Barbossa, Jack put on his most convincing grin. Barbossa finally noticed him as he approached, a look of surprise crossing his face.  
  
"Jack Sparrow! What in the blazes are ye doin' here? I thought we'd left ye for dead, governor of your own island. Didn't suit ye?"  
  
Jack smirked back at him good-naturedly.  
  
"Well, mate, you forgot one thing when you left this pirate behind."  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
He grinned, showing off his various gold teeth.  
  
"I'm captain Jack Sparrow."  
  
Barbossa frowned at him.  
  
"I'll have to remember that the next time I try and finish ye off," he replied, pointing his pistol at the still-smiling pirate. The rest of the crew crowded in closer, cutlasses drawn. Jack thought fast.  
  
"The lass's blood didn't work, did it?"  
  
Barbossa scowled at him, lowering his pistol.  
  
"No. And I take it ye be knowin' just who we need, eh?"  
  
A smile played about Jack Sparrow's lips.  
  
"I just might."  
  
***  
  
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